Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

VISIBLE LIGHT BASED PHOTO CATALYTIC DEGRADATION OF AMBIENT NO2 USING DOPED NANO PHOTO CATALYST

Vinod Kumar R. and S. Karthikeyan

Abstract

The objective of the study was to develop a lab-scale photo reactor using artificial visible lamps as light source and Fe doped TiO2 as photo catalyst for degradation of NO2 and optimize the operating variables.Then the performance of the reactor on photo degradation of ambient NO2 near a traffic intersection was evaluated. A conventional Hi –volume sampler was modified into cyclone separator and filtering unit as pre treatment devices for removal of particulate matters before degradation of NO2 at the traffic intersection.The commercial TiO2 was not effective in catalyzing NO2 photo oxidation in visible light, whereas 78% of65 μg/m3of NO2 was photo degraded in 2.5 minutes with 0.75g Fe doped TiO2. The average removal efficiency of Fe doped TiO2 photo catalytic reactor for NO2 was 73% in the field.